Still for distilling crude bituminous products.



H. W. ASH.

STILL FOR DISTILLING CRUDE BITUMINOUS PRODUCTS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1903.

91 7,702. Patented Apr. 6, 1909.

UNITED STATES HORACE W. ASH, 0F CAMBRIDGE,

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN OR PATENT OFFICE.

TO WARREN BROTHERS COMPANY, OF CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA,

STILL FOR DISTILLING CRUDE BITUMINOUS PRODUCTS.

. No. 917,702. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented April 6, 1909.

Original application filed April 17, 1902, Serial No. 103,346. Divided and this application filed June '22, 1903.

Serial N 0 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE W. ASH, of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Stills for Distilling Crude Bituminous Products, of which the following, being a division of my copending applicatmn, Serial No. 103,346, filed April 17, 1902, is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature.

I shall describe the invention as employed for distilling bituminous material for the purpose of producing a refined bituminous When 'lampblack is used it may wholly or in part be obtained from the products of combustion used in heating the air or'stearn, or it may be introduced by any suitable feeding mechanism into the pipe by which the heated air is conducted to the still.

I will now describe the invention in oonjunction with the drawings where the figure IS a view in a somewhat conventional form of the still.

Referring to the drawings :A represents an upright metal shell preferably cylindrical in section, forming a distilling chamber 11 having an inlet a. by which the crude material is fed to it from a reservoir, an outlet a product especially adapted for use in the manufacture of bituminous pavements. The bituminous material which I prefer to use for obtaining this product is a crude tar obtained from gas works and petroleum oils having an asphalt base.

I The object of the invention is to provide an a paratus for shortening the time of distil ation.

The distillation is quickened according as the aeration of the distilling product may be increased.

Myinvention relates to heat to the exterior of the still, and it consists of a still of sue a nature that the bituminous material therein may be subjected to a volume of heated air or steam introduced into the bottom of the still whereby the material is not only heated, but is aerated by the passage through it of lar e quantities of air in the form of small glo ules or bubbles. I prefer to use in the still means whereby the air is disseminated and brought into intimate relation with all parts of the product as it rises from the bottom of. thestill through the material to the top, and I haveshown' for accomplishing this purpose a perforated in its bottom a closed by a valve a through which the refined product is drawn, one or more gage cocks a and a thermometer a. It is represented upon a frame or legs a in a manner to provide room for tracks a? beneath the outlet and for a car (not shown) adapted to receive the product or to hold barrels or hogsheads for receiving it, whereby ease in handling the roduct is secured.

The still preferab y has its bottom a rounded outwardly or downwardly. It also has the usual outlet a at its top connecting with a condenser a which may be of the usual character. It further has a supply about its center and then extends downward and opens in the bottom of the still below the diaphragm b. This pipe upon the outside of the still extends from a hot air chamber B in which is a blower for blowing hot air of any desired temperature and at any required pressure throng the air pipe into the still. The perforations of the diaphragm 'b may be of any desired size and desired arrangement, smaller near the center and larger near the outer edge for the better distribution of the air if required. Above grating or gauze extending; across the still T in a number of places below the intended level of the bituminous material against which the globules or bubbles of air rise and by which they are subdivided-into. smaller globules or bubbles and thus: made to more thoroughly and completely" permeate the material. f v

When desired lampblack or other impalthe diaphragm b are the diaphragms b", b. hese are placed at convenient distances apart, extend across the still and provide perforations which are preferably small, but may be of any size or arrangement. The perforations in the diaphragm b may be somewhat smaller than those in the diaphragm b l have shown two dia hragms, but as many may be used as desired purpose is to cause the bubbles, which tend pable powder may be introduced into the still with this body of heated air or steam. l

to increase in size as the air rises through the istilling material, to be divided into smaller pipe B which enters its side near the top to Thein they may be of any uniformly disseminate it throughout the heat throu h the air supply pipe mto the complete distillation is very quick taking bubbles or globules in order to produce I larger aerating surfaces from the quantity of 1 air used and also for the purpose of reducing i the-spied with which the air passes through the tilling material, and also to more mass as it is passing. This 'air acts as a I vaporizer or liberating agency by means of which the distilling product is freed by volatilization from the oils which it is necessary to distil off to produce a bituminous product of the desired consistency. In such a still ordinarily not more than seven hours and it is carried on at a temperature of about 300 de rees Fahrenheit, instead of 700, which is or inarily considered necessary for the purpose, so far at least as I have knowledge.

The air may be heated and forced through the air supply pipe by any desired means. have re resented a furnace B adapted to burn either soft coal or oil or both. This furnace is supplied with the usual air draft in any suita le way and is represented as connected with the chamber B by a flue I) through which the heat and all the roducts of combustion enter the chamber The air forcing means in the chamber B provides an inducin draft for the furnace and force all the pro ucts of combustion as well as the still. Any ampblack therefore which is produced in the furnace is fed into the still. The blower in the hot air chamber (not shown) is rovided with a shaft pulley and is operated by a belt in the usual way.

When it is desired that the bituminous product shall contain lampblack it may be roduced in the furnace and hot air chamber by imperfect combustion of the coal or preferably of oil therein, the combustion of the oil being so regulated as to produce lampblack or carbon and which with the heated I air is blown through the suppy pipe into the still and there intimately mingled by means of the heated aeration with the heated distilling material. Where lampblack taken from other sources or other impalpable powder is used it is fed into the arr sup ly pipe 5 through a supply hop er B throng a suitable feeding valve an is by the heated air conveyed to the still and by it intimately associated or mingled with the distilling 1 product. The lampblack or impalpable l owder is usually not introduced into the I distilling product until near the end of its I distillation. The tem erature of the heated air is, of course, dependent upon the fire. It l is varied at will by the admission of cool air l which may be done by openingthe furnace door. It is thus possible to hasten the 0001- l ing of the product remaining in the still, and ofthe still itself after distillation by forcing through the said product and the still cool or cold air, rather than heated air, the fire in the furnace, of course, then being lessened or checked. v I

In use, the still is filled to the desired extent with the crude tar or oil and the hot air is then blown into the bottom of the still beneath it at about the temperature of 300 degrees F. and about the pressure of about five pounds to the square mch, and this causes the crude tar or oilto be heated and thus to become more fluid and at the same time in troduces into it, a means for agitating and aerating it which serves to combine with the gases of distillation at the same time that itserves to heat the mass throughout; the hot air bubbles or globules gradually rising through the mass perm'eatingit and esca ing with the gas into the condenser. e hot air supply center of the sti thus utilizing the radiation of-heat from the pipe and at the same time retaining in the pi e to a considerable extent the air heating va ues arising from surroundin the pipe with the heated material.

Iaving thus fully described invention, I claim and desire to secure bfietters Patent of the United States ipe is led down through the l 1. The combination of. a still for distilling I crude bituminous material, means for generating a blast, an inlet in the still for said blast, means for directing the blast through the inlet, and means whereby solid foreign matter may be introduced in the said direct ing means at a point between the still and said generating means and thereby conducted to the still.

2. The combination of a still for distilling crude bituminous material, means for generating a blast, an inlet in the still for said blast, means for directing the blast through the inlet, and a receptacle for foreign matter opening into said directing means at a point between the still and said generating means whereby the passage of the foreign matter may be regulated.

3. The combination of a still for distilling crude bituminous material, means for enerating the heat blast, an inlet in the st' for said blast, means for directing the blast through the inlet, and a receptacle for foreign matter opening into said directing means at a point between the still and said generating means.

HORACE W. ASH. 

